


See where all my follies led

by pulangaraw



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-04
Updated: 2012-02-04
Packaged: 2017-10-30 14:11:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/332606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pulangaraw/pseuds/pulangaraw
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>That's what people do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	See where all my follies led

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers up to Reichenbach.

The first time death comes to Jim he’s five years old.

His mother gets run over by a car. Drunk driver, the adults say and they think Jim doesn’t understand it but he does. He understands death just fine. There one moment, not there the next. His goldfish died three months earlier, mum had explained it to him and then he’d gone to the library one afternoon and read up on the subject. Until the librarian had discovered him in the adult section and shooed him out. She’d looked horrified. Adults did that a lot around Jim.

The thing Jim doesn’t understand is why. And since his mum isn’t here anymore - won’t ever be here again - he goes to his dad. But his dad just looks at him with sad eyes and shakes his head. Which only leaves his granddad. Jim doesn’t like asking him because granddad is scary and he smells weird, but he really needs to know why. So he goes and he asks.

“That’s what people do,” Granddad says. He goes back to his crosswords.

\---

It takes Jim a little longer to realise that his dad died too, that same night his mum died. That’s mainly because his dad forgot to tell his body that he was dead, so his body kept on living, going through the motions, while his dad had gone away.

Jim watches his dad putter around their house for three months. Jim thinks someone should help his dad and since no one seemed inclined to he makes a decision. That's what people do, isn't it? Again, he goes to the library to get the information he can’t ask anyone else for. He’s better at avoiding the librarian now, so it only takes him one afternoon. It takes him another few days to get the things he needs.

He makes his dad a cup of tea a few days later. The next morning, his dad doesn’t wake up. The doctor says he died of a broken heart. Jim knows better, but he doesn’t say so. Adults don’t like being told the truth.

His granddad looks at him coldly when they take him over. There are no other living relatives, so he’ll live with granddad now. Maybe he should have thought things through a bit better. But it’s too late now and they’re stuck with each other. He’ll learn from his mistake.

“Don’t even try that on me,” Grandad says, once they’re gone and the two of them are alone.

Jim shakes his head.

\---

When Carl Powers dies, everyone in school looks sad for a while. Even the people who didn’t know Carl look sad. Some of the girls sob quietly in the bathrooms and some other students take the opportunity to stay home for a few days.

They hold an assembly for Carl on the day of his funeral. Everyone at school has to attend. Jim sits somewhere in the middle with the rest of his year group. They show pictures of him and the headmaster and some of Carl’s friends talk about how great he’d been. It’s all terribly fake and terribly boring.

One of the girls the next row down starts sobbing quietly.

“Why’d he have to die?” she says tearfully to her neighbour.

“That’s what people do,” Jim whispers.

\---

More people die over the next couple decades, people Jim knows and people Jim has never met. Good people and bad people, it doesn’t really make any difference. Jim builds up his reputation as the go-to guy and he’s good at what he does. He’s always good at anything he puts his mind to. He doesn’t do things sloppily, he learned from his mistake.

Seb asks him one time if it bothers him, all those deaths. Jim says no, it doesn’t and it’s the truth. He can see the “why” in Seb’s face even though he doesn’t dare ask it. Jim decides to answer anyway since it’s such a beautifully simple answer.

“That’s what people do,” he says and smiles.

Then he takes out his gun and shoots Seb in the head. He doesn’t need underlings that ask questions.

\---

“People have died,” Sherlock Holmes says.

“That’s what people do!” Jim shouts.

And really, how many times does he have to repeat himself for people to understand?

\---

“Thank you,” he says and shakes Sherlock Holmes’ hand.

Holmes still doesn’t understand it. It’s almost funny, really. So much brains, so much potential but he still doesn’t understand. He thinks he does, though, so Jim plays along. It’s nice, for a while, to pretend that someone else knows too.

Soon, he’ll understand. He’s very close now.

Just one more thing to do and his chain of dominoes will start falling and Sherlock Holmes will understand the truth.

It’s a shame that he’ll have to die for it, but then, _that’s what people do_ , Jim thinks and pulls the trigger.


End file.
